


safe inside your arms

by lostin_space



Series: Roswell New Mexico Week 2019 [5]
Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Roswell New Mexico Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-27
Updated: 2019-07-27
Packaged: 2020-07-22 20:35:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19997518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lostin_space/pseuds/lostin_space
Summary: someone remembered alex's birthday-day 6: if i could do it all over again





	safe inside your arms

**Author's Note:**

> I fully intended to do something completely different for this day, but I kept getting distracted, so I decided to just do some completely self-indulgent fluff

Alex didn’t know what to make of it when he walked out of the airport to see a curly-headed man with a cowboy hat leaned up against the same beat-up old truck waiting for him.

He froze in his place, watching that cocky smirk make it’s way onto the face he’d only seen in his dreams for two years. Michael was freshly 20 and had chest hair that really hadn’t been there before on display with his hardly buttoned shirt, all held together with a bawdy belt buckle that told Alex he wasn’t the same man he left.

“How are you here right now?” Alex asked softly, hesitantly nearing him. The last time he’d seen him had been him bouncing between hurdling insults and begging him not to go. It was a day that haunted him.

“Heard your brother on the phone in the Crashdown the other day. Was arguing with someone, said you’d just have to get a cab back because everyone was busy,” Michael answered, eying him up and down, “But I wasn’t. Couldn’t let you get a cab on your birthday.”

Something burst in Alex’s chest and he stumbled forward another step.

“You remembered my birthday?” Alex asked softly. Michael’s smirk broadened and he tilted his head back as he reached out to weave his finger through one of Alex’s belt loops. He didn’t pull him closer, but the gesture was enough to clear any doubt in Alex’s mind. And he could act on it. _God bless not being in uniform._

“Of course I did,” Michael said, a genuine smile appearing on his face as Alex gravitated towards him, “I even got you a present.”

“Oh, yeah?” Alex breathed, his chest hitting Michael’s, “Is it you?” 

“Well, yeah, if you want,” he said with a soft little chuckle as he put his hands on Alex’s hips, “But I have an actual present for you.”

“Then show me, Cowboy.”

Michael snorted and snuck a millisecond long little kiss before opening the door to the passenger side, gesturing for him to get inside. There was a giddy pool of excitement in Alex’s stomach that he’d tried to subdue. As stupid as it was, that was his first public kiss. It barely even counted as a kiss and if anyone else saw it, they probably would’ve thought they hadn’t even touched, but it was everything to Alex. This was Michael Guerin. Who drove three hours to Albuquerque to pick him up from the airport when they hadn’t spoken in two years. Who _kissed_ him in _public_.

Truth be told, Alex expected them to drive straight into the desert and fuck each other silly in the front seat of the truck. That’s how this dream usually went. The whole scene easily fell into an, “oh how could I _ever_ repay you?” porn. However, he instead got a quiet, three-hour ride that consisted of Michael humming along to the classic rock that played through the car speaker. It was oddly soothing. Soothing enough for him to fall asleep.

For the first time in a while, Alex slept well. He didn’t have any of the anxiety that came with sleeping around soldiers or his father. Michael was safe and comfortable. Besides, he drove much smoother than Alex was used to. By the time he woke up again, he was more than well-rested. It made it that much better when he woke to Michael smiling at him.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty,” he said from where he was leaning against the steering wheel.

“Sorry, uh, are we back in Roswell?” Alex asked, rubbing his fist against his eye.

“Yeah, but we’ve only been home for a few minutes, so no worries,” he answered, reaching out to rub Alex’s shoulder. He melted a little bit.

“You could’ve woken me up,” Alex said, smiling effortlessly. Michael scrunched up his nose and shook his head. “So, where are we exactly?”

When he looked around, he just saw acres of land and a trailer. A little more inspection told him it was on the far end of a ranch. He turned confused eyes on Michael.

“Airstream’s mind. ‘S your present.” Alex snorted, his eyebrows coming together fondly. That would explain why he called it home. The idea that Michael had a home, though, felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders and replaced with a warm blanket. 

“My present is that you no longer sleep in your truck?” he asked. Michael rolled his eyes.

“No. I-I mean, yeah, kinda, but no. It’s… The present is a place for you to stay when you come back to Roswell, like, a place for you to come home _to_ ,” Michael said softly, his eyes trained on the airstream. Alex felt the seat drop out from under him. “I just know that I wouldn’t want to stay at your dad’s if I was you and so I thought I’d offer.”

“Michael…”

“I know it’s, like, super small. I can sleep on the floor and you can take the bed if you want. I just wanted to give you somewhere, you know, safe. I want you to know that there’s a place waiting for you whenever you need it and that I’m here with open arms even when I say dumb shit,” he sighed, squeezing his eyes shut, “I-I keep thinking about how I acted before you left and I really wish I could take it back. I let you leave thinking I was so mad at you and, and that easily could’ve been the last time I saw you. Something could’ve happened or, or any number of things and I love you, Alex, I don’t want your last memory of me being so horrible. So, even though I can’t take it back, I _can_ make up for it. I can let you know I’m here, I have a home for you. For us, if you want.”

Alex did his best to suppress the tears that were welling up in his eyes, his throat closing and burning all the way. It was a lot to process. Someone cared about him enough that he wanted to give him a home. How crazy is that? Two years had gone by without so much as a word between them and while Alex had spent that time trying to forget, Michael had spent it saving money to get a place to live. A place for _them_ to live.

He had never felt so loved in his life.

“Okay, you’re not responding, so I guess I’ll take you‒”

Alex silenced him by pulling him into a kiss, much more passionate than the peck at the airport. This one was was long and deep and full of pulling each other impossibly close. Tears fell from Alex’s eyes, coating their kiss in the taste of them. Michael responded to them by cradling his shaved head, holding him close like he was precious. Alex considered that maybe to Michael he was.

“Okay,” Michael breathed as they separated just enough to rest their foreheads together, Alex still holding his cheeks, “So, do you still want me to bring you to your dad’s, or?”

Alex sputtered a laugh, “Oh my god, you took that as a rejection?” Michael blinked a few times.

“Well, you gave me mixed signals,” he whispered, fiddling with what he could hold onto with the buzzcut happening. Alex sniffled with a smile.

“I love your present. It’s the best present anyone has ever gotten me and I can’t wait to come home to you from now on,” Alex told him, making sure to make eye contact as he rubbed his thumb over his cheek. 

Michael broke out into a borderline goofy smile, moving forward with a kiss so enthusiastic that pushed Alex back and his head was only saved from slamming against the window by Michael’s hand. Giggles spilled through the kiss in place of the previous tears, both sinking down into the seat and getting comfortable against each other’s bodies. That was one thing that hadn’t changed.

“Also, we can share the bed,” Alex whispered as he slotted his fingers into Michael’s curls, watching the cowboy hat haphazardly tumble to the floor. Michael hummed happily.

“It’s really small, are you sure?”

“I think we do just fine with small spaces, don’t you?” Alex clarified. That wicked grin appeared back on Michael’s beautiful face. He wiggled his way between Alex’s thighs in the small space of the truck. 

“You got a point there, soldier.”

There was no doubt in Alex’s mind that this was home.

**Author's Note:**

> also on my tumblr: spaceskam


End file.
